Grudge Match
by Psychoblue
Summary: While investigating a Youma attack, Makoto runs into an old friend who wants nothing more than to make her pay for breaking his heart.  Makoto/Shinozaki, done as a giftfic for Shadi.


"_Makoto, I need you to go to the puroresu show at the Budokan Hall tomorrow. The promotion working there has had a string of mysterious injuries, where the wrestlers are falling ill despite clearing check-ups. The Dark Kingdom might be involved."_

When Makoto Kino received these orders from Luna, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Ever since becoming Sailor Jupiter, Makoto's life had been overcome by a raging typhoon of violence and chaos as she became a champion of justice fighting the Dark Kingdom's minions, the Youma. When she transferred schools, Makoto had been hoping to start over fresh; getting into fights was what caused her to get expelled in the first place and she had secretly been hoping to move away from such violent behavior.

So of course when she obtained a ticket to the NOAH television taping, where many of her childhood favorite wrestlers had gathered, her "me time" would have to once again take a backseat to fighting the Dark Kingdom and foiling yet another of their innumerous schemes to leech the life out of the citizens of Tokyo. _When will they ever learn?, _Makoto thought after she received Luna's orders. _You'd think with all of the insanity that's been going on lately on both sides, they'd take a moment to sit back and try fixing themselves before letting loose another lame scheme._

Even with all of the chaos that had befallen the ranks of the Dark Kingdom as of late, it seemed that the villains always found a reason to add mayhem and suffering to their agenda. A few days before, one of their top generals Nephrite was seemingly executed by their leader Queen Beryl, sacrificed as a pawn to force one Mamoru Chiba into joining their villainous society. While Makoto didn't particularly like Mamoru (there was a time when she thought he was a cancer to Usagi's mental health), the rest of her comrades were worried about his safety. For better or worse, Mamoru was one of them: a warrior of justice sworn to defend the Earth.

_No, that's not right, _Makoto grumbled as she watched the match in front of her intently, studying both competitors carefully to make sure that they weren't a Youma in disguise (Usagi claimed to have been attacked by one such Youma a couple of days before). _Mamoru is sworn to defend Usagi: fighting for justice is just a perk that comes with it. How come someone as ditzy as Usagi, sweet as she is, gets to have true love like that while my sempai broke my heart?_

Another reason Makoto transferred schools, nearly a year ago when she thought about it, was because at her old school, she fell madly in love with one of her seniors and was hoping to start a serious relationship with him. Unfortunately, when she went to confess her feelings, she was turned down. The rejection hurt Makoto worse than a million Youma attacks, and sent her into a downward spiral of depression that manifested itself in the form of violent anti-social behavior. In that respect, maybe becoming Sailor Jupiter was therapeutic: it gave her a positive outlet to vent her frustrations that hadn't gone away.

"…can't think about that right now," Makoto said out loud as the bell rang and the crowd applauded the victor of the match. "I've got work to do!"

There were seven matches scheduled for the television taping, and the third had just concluded. While each battle was hard-fought and took a considerable toll on both competitors, Makoto hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. The victor would celebrate their victory in earnest, and about a minute later the loser would come to and shake his hand. Makoto had seen too many Youma attacks to know whether or not someone had their energy drained: they wouldn't even be able to move by themselves much less be able to shake someone's hand.

Besides, Makoto didn't want to even consider the possibility that one of her childhood heroes in the promotion, like Kenta Kobashi or Mitsuharu Misawa, was actually a Youma whose storied career was just a front to serve their evil masters…or worse yet, that the Youma was an impersonator of one of those heroes and the real Kobashi or Misawa had been killed somewhere in a dark alley. The agents of the Dark Kingdom were cowards like that: they would rather cook up some underhanded scheme rather than face the Senshi fair and square.

Makoto remembered the very first show her parents took her to, back when she was just starting first grade. The main event was her favorite competitor at the time, "the White Angel" Hakushi, stepping out of a casket and fighting a symbolic battle to prove that he was still worthy of life by combating the famed and terrifying gaijin "Undertaker." It was silly in hindsight to be so emotionally invested in tripe like that, but little Makoto was legitimately scared of this dark giant seeking to claim her hero's soul.

And now many years later, an older and smarter Makoto was trying to prevent something like that, only this was real life and not a storyline to sell tickets.

As the lights dimmed and the ring announcer started his introduction, Makoto looked at her program and after seeing that next up were two names that she didn't recognized, turned to the entrance ramp and waited for the competitors to come out. Impersonating famous people like Kobashi or Misawa would require a lot of effort to maintain a façade, and if this was just another Dark Kingdom scheme, then it was more likely the Dark Kingdom would have their mole someone obscure and not privy to attracting much attention. The first competitor that came out was a thickly muscled fellow with a face that even a mother would scoff at, and he knew that the fans thought so too when he stuck his tongue out and let out a laugh.

"Maybe I should have brought Rei along with me," Makoto grumbled as the ugly-as-sin wrestler stepped through the ropes and flexed his muscles, still sticking his tongue out as if it made him scary. "She's probably not into this kind of stuff, but at least she'd be able to detect whether or not these guys are Youma. Maybe Minako, stuck-up as she is, could have gotten us backstage and we could sift through-"

"And making his debut, looking to prove himself a man…ZAKI!"

Turning her head to see the next competitor, Makoto's interest in the entire show piqued to the highest degree possible. So high, in fact, that she suddenly wasn't even concerned about the Youma or the Dark Kingdom, or even the matches. Instead, all she could think about…was how the brown-haired young man walking down the aisle, his toned physique making it the only way someone could tell that his thin frame worked in combat sports, was someone that she not only knew, but knew intimately.

_That's…Shinozaki-san!_

The name "Shinozaki" was one of the very few bright spots Makoto had during her time of depression when her sempai rejected her. Shinozaki was a few years older than Makoto, but they grew up in the same neighborhood and were practically inseparable. They attended the same karate class during elementary and middle school and even when Makoto started picking fights in her depression, Shinozaki continued to support her. Unfortunately, he was enlisted in a high school away from their district, so when Makoto transferred schools, Shinozaki was unable to follow her and they had not seen each other since.

Before "Zaki" stepped into the ring with the considerably bigger and scarier opponent that was waiting for him, he walked over to Makoto's side of the ring and turned around to look into the crowd. Lowering his head to the front row…he stared directly at Makoto with a glare that people only wore when they found someone who wronged them in the most horrible way imaginable. His silent gaze bore into Makoto's soul and not only scared her a bit, but confused her greatly. What in the world could Makoto have done that would make Shinozaki glare at her like that?

Without saying a word, Shinozaki backed away and rolled into the ring, not breaking his gaze at Makoto until he rolled under the ropes and stood back up to face the considerably bigger man that was going to be his opponent. Just looking at the two of them standing face to face, with Shinozaki's opponent standing a full head over his with enough muscle to make the Shinozaki, toned as he was, look like a malnourished geek in comparison, Makoto bit her lip and fought the urge to run in there and prevent Shinozaki from getting himself killed.

But as soon as the bell rang, Makoto detected the very thing that Luna had warned her about: that flash of wicked intent that could only come from those who worked for the Dark Kingdom. Unfortunately, it wasn't coming from the muscular ugly man: it was coming from Shinozaki! In an instant, Shinozaki flattened his bigger adversary with a jumping thrust kick to the chest, the point of impact giving off a dark purple flash of energy as it hit. The referee quickly fell down to his knees and look at the big man, but Makoto could tell that he was already unconscious.

No matter how much she didn't want to believe it, Shinozaki was the Youma she was looking for. Even as the crowd cheered that the "underdog" Zaki had instantly KO'd his bigger opponent, a sense of dread came over Makoto. She was tempted to just walk out of the arena, pretend she didn't see anything that happened, and move on. Shinozaki a Youma…it just wasn't happening. It COULDN'T be happening!

Reality, however, had a different plan in mind when Shinozaki lifted the referee off the ground and, pressing his burning hand against his forehead, drained his energy, as well. The crowd, which moments before was applauding, was now muttering in confusion as Shinozaki dropped the unconscious referee and bent over to the announce table to demand a microphone. Though the announcers were visibly confused by what was going on, the ring announcer handed Shinozaki his microphone and the young man again turned towards Makoto with his eyes as cold as the Arctic Circle.

"Makoto-san," Shinozaki hissed with hatred, "step into this ring right now!"

Makoto, for once, wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. On one hand, she was a Sailor Senshi whose sworn duty was to smite the Youma: Youma that had just drained the life of two civilians and if Luna was to be believed, many others before this evening. But at the same time, the Youma was her childhood friend Shinozaki, who she considered one of the kindest boys she had ever known. What was she supposed to do? _Maybe…maybe this is how Usagi feels now that Mamoru joined the Dark Kingdom, _Makoto thought bitterly as she tried to steel her nerves enough to step over the barrier.

Getting impatient, Shinozaki snapped his fingers and suddenly, like popcorn kernels, random dark purple explosions erupted throughout the arena as numerous "bystanders" shed their human disguises to reveal their own Youma forms: in fact, they were the same gray-colored Youma in black cloaks that the Senshi had been fighting for the past few weeks in droves. Finally realizing that what was happening wasn't planned, the crowd started to panic and head for the doors…only for the Youma to rise up and block the passage to the exits!

"Makoto-san," Shinozaki repeated, his eyes flashing with violent intent that sent shivers down Makoto's spine. "Get in here right now, or I'll have the Youma slaughter everyone in this building!"

"No choice," Makoto said out loud as she finally jumped over the barrier and stepped into the ring where Shinozaki was waiting for her. Finally face-to-face with the young man that she had thought was her best friend growing up, the teenager said something to break the terrible tension between them. "Shinozaki-san…I don't know what this is about, but whatever it is, leave these people out of it."

"They can leave after the show is over, Makoto-san," Shinozaki said before throwing the microphone away while several of the gray Youma jumped the barricade to surround the ring. "…it has been a long time, Makoto. We haven't seen each other in a quite a while…you're probably wondering how I managed to get a spot on a television taping of a big wrestling company."

"To be honest, I had no idea you had any interest in becoming a professional wrestler," Makoto replied bluntly. _With all of these hostages, I have to be careful what I do, _Makoto thought as she again looked into Shinozaki's uncharacteristically cold eyes. _Even if he is a Youma, he's still Shinozaki-san…he's still my friend. I need to see if I can reason with him before attacking: if I surprise him, he might have these gray guys rampage."_

"Yes…well, you'd be surprised the things that go through people's heads when they have their heart broken," Shinozaki grumbled as he folded his arms. "I'm sure you'd know all about that Makoto: when your sempai turned you down, all you could think about was getting into fights, as if that was going to make you feel any better. I figure you of all people could understand how I feel."

"You don't have to talk to me like I'm your enemy, Shinozaki-san," Makoto said calmly as she reached out to put her hand on her old friend's shoulder. "We've known each other for a long time: if you were having relationship problems, all you had to do was call me over the phone and I'd talk to you about it. If you wanted, you could have met somewhere and hang out just like we used-"

"ARE YOU THAT DENSE!" Shinozaki blurted out as he shoved Makoto away before pointing an accusing finger at her. "Makoto…you're the one who broke my heart! You're the reason I lost my innocence! You're the reason I decided to torture myself in the wrestling dojos so I could make my physical pain override the pain within!" With dark purple flames consuming his body, Shinozaki let out a fearsome roar as Makoto jumped back in surprise. "YOU'RE THE REASON I'M NOW A YOUMA!"

With the flames dissipated, Shinozaki was no longer standing in the ring. In his place was a humanoid Youma with dark blue skin with neon purple tattoos across his torso spelling out the phrase in English "Unmatched jealousy leads to unmatched rage." With long pants covering his legs and a hannya mask covering his face, the Youma flexed his arms that were connected by white ring rope at the elbows that reached to small posts embedded into his shoulders and re-introduced himself. "Makoto…you're the reason why I've become Netamuta, the Puroresu Youma!"

"Netamuta…Netamu," Makoto deciphered the meaning of Shinozaki's Youma name, recognizing it as another way of stating to be jealous of someone or something. "What are you jealous of, Shinozaki?"

"…I suppose you really don't know. That's typical of you," Nemamuta said lowly. "Do you remember a couple of years ago, Makoto, when your dear sempai turned you down…how I asked if you wanted to stop being friends and be boyfriend and girlfriend? Do you remember how you asked if I was joking, and when I said I wasn't, you just laughed it off and changed subjects?"

"Yeah, I remember that…our parents would always joke about how we could have passed off as lovers so I thought you were just joking about…oh, no," Makoto's eyes widened as she finally realized the levity of the situation. "Shinozaki, you were being serious about that, weren't you? All this time I thought you were just-"

"Just joking around? No, I wasn't," Netamuta grumbled. "Makoto…even when we were kids I liked you. I just told myself that I can't wait until we're grown up, so I can tell you how I feel where you could understand it. Your sempai was a moron to turn you down…until then, you turned ME down! Even after your sempai broke your heart, you couldn't find it in yours to accept my heart! It…it crushed me worse than a Godzilla attack!"

"Shinozaki-san…I am so sorry," Makoto said softly as Netamuta's aura radiated from his body, making his violent intent visible to the naked eye. "If I had known you were being serious…if I wasn't so caught up in my depression, then maybe we could have been close like that. You wouldn't have tried to bury yourself in depression just like I did when sempai turned me down and…you wouldn't have become a Youma."

"I was going to be content with just letting these muscle-bound athletes pound at me for the rest of my life…but then Lord Kunzite offered me a chance to break free of my depression. He offered me a chance to make something of myself again," Netamuta suddenly leapt towards Makoto with his arm reared back, too fast for even someone as adept as fighting as her to do much to react except block. "He said if I beat you...I'd be free of the heartache!"

Makoto let out a shout of pain as the impact from Netamuta's backhanded chop sent her sprawling towards the ropes…which caused her to let out another shout of pain as a sharp jolt of dark energy was sent through her body before she fell to the mat. Turning around to look at the ropes, she noticed that they were now coated with the same dark purple aura that Netamuta had, making it appear as if they had been set on fire. "Shinozaki…if you want me to apologize then-"

"You know what I want, Makoto," Netamuta said coldly as he pointed to the crowd of people that were now left with no choice but to watch the drama unfold lest the many Youma in the building attacked them. "I sold my soul to free myself of the pain I feel in my heart…of how I'm torn between the love and hate I feel for you whenever I think about you. Everything I am is being put on the line in this grudge match between you and me. If you want me to back down…then you better transform and fight!"

But at hearing this, Makoto no longer felt any kind of fear or dread at facing her former friend. In fact, the prospect now made her smile. "Heh…Shinozaki, you didn't have to go through torturing yourself and selling yourself for the Dark Kingdom just for that," Makoto said with a smirk as her morpher flashed with green energy. "If you just wanted to fight…then you just had to say so." As her morpher reached critical mass with sparks shooting out of the jewel within, Makoto cast aside her civilian identity and transformed.

"JUPITER PRISM POWER…MAKE UP!"

In a powerful burst of emerald lightning, Makoto called upon her Senshi powers and morphed into Sailor Jupiter, the green-and-pink clad warrior of lightning and botany that had felled so many Youma in the past, and what gave Makoto the sense of purpose she had lost when her sempai broke her heart. In that aspect, she and Netamuta were not at all different, using alter-egos to cope with the sadness of being rejected.

In spite of that, Jupiter was quite aware at there was one huge difference: she used her alter-ego for the forces of love and justice: Netamuta was using his to harm his fellow human beings. For that injustice, she was more than willing to put her former friend in his place and teach him the error of his ways. _Come on, Shinozaki-san, _Jupiter thought as she exhaled and assumed her fighting stance. _If fighting you like this is the only way to apologize for what I did…then step right up and I'll bop you into next week!_

Now that his quarry was finally ready for combat, Netamuta charged towards Jupiter and against lunged forward with his arm reared back for a chop. Jupiter, however, wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice. Just when Netamuta was about to strike, Jupiter crouched down to avoid the chop only to rise back up with a vertical kick and strike him squarely in the abdomen. With Netamuta held up by her foot, Jupiter let out a kiai and hurled her opponent into the ropes, where the dark aura attacked him and he let out a roar of agony.

"L-lucky shot," Netamuta sputtered as he flipped back to his feet and lifted his fists. Quickly advancing towards Jupiter, the incensed Youma opened his fists and latched onto Jupiter's shoulders. With his foe now caught in a clinch, Netamuta tossed a stiff forearm to Jupiter's jaw, followed by a second and a third strike before Jupiter caught the forearm with a parry and attempted one of her own. To her surprise, Netamuta was hoping for something like that to happen and ducked under the attack to lock his arms underneath her shoulders before tossing her overhead with a suplex.

Landing on her feet, Jupiter heard Netamuta's footsteps quickly approaching and instinctively spun around with her fist clenched. The result was her striking the Youma hard in the jaw with a backhanded punch, drawing forth a spray of sparks and causing him to stumble backwards. _Almost forgot that he's a wrestler now, _Jupiter thought as she watched Netamuta growl before again charging her. _That means he's going to use a lot more grapples and counters than he did back when we were in karate class. I need to be careful with that._

Lifting her powerful right leg, Jupiter tossed a kick at the charging Netamuta's head hoping he'd run right into it, but all those years sparring together as children had made him privy to her attack patterns. Instead, he caught the leg and gave its ankle a sharp twist before pulling back and forcing Jupiter to topple over onto her belly which the Youma twisted her foot with an ankle lock. "Gotcha now," Netamuta exclaimed as he waited for Jupiter to scream. "You're not getting out of this!"

"You always say that, Shinozaki," Jupiter hissed before spinning over to her back and using her free leg to kick Netamuta away and free herself from the hold. Returning to her feet and resuming her stance, the Senshi lifted her hand and motioned for Netamuta to come at her again. "Even when we were kids you thought you could beat me in the dojo, and guess what? I was always the one who found the magic key that made me beat you!"

This time, both combatants charged towards each other attacked with high-impact kicks, each attack striking true and drawing forth a spark of fighting spirit and energy that was visible to the crowd watching intently. Though originally they struck at each other's legs to try and wear the other down, eventually the two former friends became more brazen in their kicks and went right for the hips, where the sparks intensified and the fighting spirit in their eyes flashed.

The power of rejection had fanned the flames of competition in both their souls. After being rejected by her sempai, to a point where even the mention of his name drove her to tears, Makoto focused all her efforts on fighting, whether it be with her classmates or with the Dark Kingdom as a Senshi. She accepted the fact that being alone was her destiny, and she swore to make it so that she could be strong enough so that others wouldn't have to share her fate of isolation.

After the twelfth exchange of kicks, the two warriors rubbed their hips slightly as if part of a hive mind before looking up and raising their arms with Netamuta striking Jupiter with a chop to the chest and Jupiter striking Netamuta with a punch to the head. As the two fighters backed away and grunted in pain, Makoto looked at Shinozaki's mutated eyes beneath his hannya mask and smiled. _You know exactly how I feel, Shinozaki, don't you? _Makoto thought as she focused her energy and prepared for a long-range attack. _The only difference is that I did to you what Sempai did to me. No wonder you hate me so much._

"JUPITER SUPREME THUNDER!"

As Sailor Jupiter, Makoto had finished off several Youma with this technique, where bolts of lethal electricity shot out from her tiara and flash-fried her enemy into oblivion. While she cared deeply for Shinozaki and wouldn't dream of killing him, even if he was a Youma, she doubted the move would do much apart from slow him down. Netamuta was the first time she could think of where a Youma was even capable of speech, and the past couple of minutes had shown that he was a lot stronger than the average Youma.

Sadly for Jupiter, the bolts didn't even do that much. Instead of causing him any kind of pain, the bolts were instead absorbed into the nodes on Netamuta's shoulders until they glowed with green energy. "Did you really think Lord Kunzite would transform me into a Youma specifically made for fighting you without giving me at least something to counter with!" Netamuta spat back before outstretching his arms. "That was always your problem, Makoto: you don't think before you act! NETAMU KARMA!"

Realizing exactly what was going on even before Netamuta unleashed the same green lightning bolts that she tried to use on him, Makoto backflipped away from the streaks of light that left scorch marks into the mat, but at the same time she lost track of where she was in the ring and backed up against the tainted ropes, sending painful shockwaves of dark energy through her body and causing her to cry out. She attempted to get away from the ropes, but Netamuta was already on her, pushing her against the barrier and watching with his demonic eyes how much pain it was causing her.

_My heart feels like it's about to implode, _Jupiter thought as she struggled against Netamuta's enhanced strength and the barrier that he was pressing her against. _This is…this is exactly how I felt when Sempai broke my heart! The darkness is threatening to choke the life out of me, taking away my livelihood. _Opening her eyes to see Netamuta staring at her with such sadness and anger, Jupiter used all of her strength to push against her friend that had her in a stranglehold before lifting her arms and smashing them against his to break his hold and allow her a chance to breathe. _This is how you feel now, too…isn't that right Shinozaki-san!_

With a powerful thrust of her palm, Jupiter struck Netamuta underneath his chin, chipping off a part of his mask. While an attack like that would normally do not much more than stun the opponent, the Youma instead roared in agony as smoke started to leark from the crack in the mask. "AGHHHHH! M…Makoto-san…MAKOTO-SAN," Netamuta sputtered out as he backed away while gripping his head. "MAKOTO! MAKOTO!"

"Shinozaki!" Jupiter said as she quickly ran over to her former friend and saw that he was in much more pain than such a strike should have put him in. "Shinozaki, what's wrong? Shinozaki!"

"It hurts…it hurts," Netamuta groaned as he continued gripping his head. As soon as Jupiter put her hand on his shoulder, however, his hands quickly fell back down and he turned his head to once again give her one of those chilling glares. "Makoto-san…the pain I feel whenever I think of you won't stop hurting until I remove you from this plane of existence!"

Delivering a sharp elbow to Jupiter's temple, Netamuta wrapped his arm around Jupiter's neck until it was being squeezed in between his elbow before thrusting forward and forcing her into the mat with the back of her head bouncing against it. Altering his hold so that his fingers were around her neck, Netamuta put Jupiter in a stranglehold and began throttling her against the mat. "Makoto…MAKOTO!"

"F…FLOWER HURRICANE!"

With a mighty gust of wind, Jupiter sent Netamuta flying high into the air with another one of her elemental attacks, granting her the reprieve she needed to get air back into her lungs. However, Jupiter didn't even take a pause for that: with the adrenaline in her body still roaring, the Senshi crouched down as Netamuta came falling back down to the ground…before rising back up and striking Netamuta in the mask yet again, this time with a jumping knee strike that fractured the center of the mask.

"It's that mask, isn't it?" Jupiter said as Netamuta crashed down onto his neck and shoulders and again started screaming in agony. "You wear that mask as a way to cope with the pain I caused you, right? Hannya are supposed to be demons borne of jealousy…and now that the mask is coming apart, all of that hatred and sadness and heartache is seeping out!"

"NETAMU KARMA!"

Flipping back to his feet with the nodes on his shoulder glowing, Netamuta summoned a gust of wind that sent Jupiter buffeting towards the hard turnbuckle of the ring, causing her to ricochet off of it and fall face-first into the mat. With her back feeling like it was on fire, Jupiter grit her teeth to keep from screaming and looked up to see that Netamuta was now standing on the opposite turnbuckle. "MAKOTO," he roared as he pointed an accusing finger at her once again. "FOR BREAKING MY HEART…I WILL BREAK YOUR FACE!"

Launching himself off the turnbuckle, Netamuta lunged feet-first towards Jupiter with his legs burning with his heartbreak and sadness. "NETAMU MISSILE!"

"Mars Fire Soul!"

Before Netamuta could deliver what he hoped to be the final blow to Jupiter, he was unceremoniously intercepted by a stream of red flames that sent him buffeting away from Jupiter and instead had him land on the ropes, which promptly amplified his sorrow tenfold and caused him to cry out in agony again. Recognizing both the voice and the attack that saved her, Jupiter turned to see Sailor Mars now fighting with the gray Youma at ringside, while in the crowd was Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury fending off the Youma in the stands allowing the crowd to escape.

But as soon as Mars cleared enough of a path to step into the ring, Jupiter quickly called her off. "Back off, Rei! This is a grudge match between me and him," she snapped as she rose to her feet while Netamuta stumbled away from the ropes and fell back against a turnbuckle with dark energy still leaking from his mask. "You guys deal with the Youma in the arena: the one in the ring is all mine!"

"Mako…to," the Youma hissed as he looked at Jupiter, letting her see the dark tear that was falling from his left eye. Focusing his dark energy into his left arm, Netamuta cracked his neck and prepared for a different kind of finishing attack. "All my sorrow…and all of my pain that you've caused me is going to be used to put you into a coma! PREPARE YOURSELF!"

But even as Netamuta gathered his energy for one last attack, Jupiter too gathered her own power into her left arm until the entire limb glowed and crackled with bright green power. "Shinozaki-san, I understand how you feel. You deserve to hate me for what I did," she said as Netamuta launched himself from the ropes and came at the Senshi full steam ahead, his burning arm outstretched. Taking off herself, Jupiter lifted her charged arm and prepared to meet the Youma head-on, "but you're dreaming if you think I'm going to let you be alone, too!"

"NETAMU BOMBER!"

"JUPITER THUNDER LARIAT!"

Running at each other full force putting all of their strength into a finishing attack, the two former friends rocked each other by using their charged arms as a striking weapon, the inner part of their elbows colliding with their noses. Keeping their arms lodged in each other's faces, Jupiter felt not only blood trickle down her nose, but pieces of Netamuta's mask that kept all of his sorrow and regret capped into his body fragment into pieces. Pushing further into her opponent's face, Jupiter let out a battle cry before crushing the mask completely and sending Netamuta flying backwards. "CHESTOOO!"

Like a flood, dark energy erupted from Netamuta's now-exposed face, the darkness that powered his Youma form seemingly gushing out of him like a volcano. "As I thought," Jupiter said as more human colors started to return to his body, turning him back into her friend Shinozaki. "The Dark Kingdom must have made that mask the source of his power. Without that, he's returning to normal!" After thirty long seconds of Shinozaki screaming in pain, the last droplets of energy escaped his face and returned him to his human form, allowing him to fall onto his hands and knees and take deep breaths.

"…are you alright, Shinozaki-san?" she asked as she demorphed and returned to her civilian attire. Walking over to where her friend was breathing heavily, Makoto knelt down and offered her hand. "Sorry I had to do that, but you left me with no-"

"I'm such an idiot," Shinozaki said with a whisper as a tear fell from his face again. "When you thought I was joking about us being an item…I should have just left it at that. We were such good friends that there shouldn't have been any problem with us just staying friends." Clenching his fist, the young man pounded it against the ground before the tears started coming down in greater streaks. "What did I do instead! I tortured myself over nothing, and then I started hurting other people just so I could feel better, only for me to feel worse instead! SO STUPID!"

"You're not stupid, Shinozaki," Jupiter said harshly, placing her hand under his chin and forcing him to look at her. "What I did to you was unforgivable: it was the exact same thing Sempai did to me, only worse because we'd known each other for a long time. You always had my back even when we were kids…any girl would have wanted a boyfriend like you."

"I didn't want ANY girl, Makoto," Shinozaki retorted as the other Senshi defeated the last of the Youma in the building, ending the mess that Shinozaki had caused under the Dark Kingdom's control. "I wanted you: you're strong and kind, and you always look after your friends. I realize now that the reason you turned me down wasn't because of your sempai…it was because I just wasn't worthy of-"

Before Shinozaki could finish that sentence, Makoto embraced him tightly and silenced him. "…maybe I'm the idiot, Shinozaki. Maybe if I wasn't so self-absorbed with being rejected, and instead looked at the great guy I always had…then maybe we could have been a couple back then. We probably would have been very happy." Loosening her embrace slightly, Makoto continued speaking. "But for now…how about we go back to being friends again?"

There was a few seconds of hesitance in Shinozaki's body language, unsure how someone he just tried to maim would still be willing to accept him. He'd wronged her in so many ways, forcing her to reveal her secret identity of Sailor Jupiter in front of thousands of people while holding innocents hostage and fighting her in a brutal grudge match. Why would she still want to his friend after all of that?

But maybe that was why he fell in love with her…why Shinozaki still loved her even if it wasn't the same way she loved him.

After hesitating, Shinozaki returned the embrace and the crowd watching applauded the performance, perhaps thinking that it was all part of the show. Once word got out that none of it was planned, the Senshi would have their hands full trying to erase the connection between Makoto and Sailor Jupiter from the public eye. They'd probably need Luna's help with that…but for now, it was enough for everyone to be happy that no one was seriously hurt.

"You've gotten a lot stronger, 'Zaki,'" Makoto said with a smirk as she held the embrace, "but you still hit like a girl."

"Yeah?" Shinozaki replied with a smirk of his own. "Well, you still hit like a guy."


End file.
